Europe String

Are you a big traveller? A recent report from Eurostat, an organization that collects information and statistics on a wide range of issues across the European Union found that, for the most part, Europeans are a travelling bunch.
The study covers the year 2006 and looked at what percentage of the population went away for four days or more. They also spilt the information between domestic and foreign trips. On average, about four out of 10 Europeans travelled abroad that year. For the most part though, more trips were made in-country than out. Exceptions include Luxembourg, where only 1 percent took …read more

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I was recently in Copenhagen and was amazed not only by all the bikers, but also by how well the city caters to these riders. Every major street has a sidewalk, bike lane and car lane. All three “users” are extremely respectful towards the others and seemingly move about in contented harmony. Copenhagen has an excellent free bike program in which a 20 DKK deposit allows you to tool around the entire city center. It’s not the only European city though offering this economical, eco-friendly and healthy way to see the sights.
Paris’ program was well-publicized when it came into …read more

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Whenever I return from a trip, I’m always infected with a new travel bug. The main symptom is that I immediately start searching for a new place to go. Recently returned from a long weekend in Copenhagen and that means I’ve been spending a lot of time on various websites, and have seen some pretty good deals. In case you too are beginning to feel the travel bug bite – here’s some medication.
If it’s a taste of Italy you are in the mood for check Europe Destinations. They have a Rome-Florence-Venice package starting at 635 USD that includes roundtrip …read more

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Know you want to go somewhere and what you want to do, but not sure exactly where to go, and a destination that will fit your budget? A new website is hoping to inspire you.
TravelMuse is a family travel orientated website that offers many of the typical travel site goodies of destination guides, articles, theme travel tips, etc. but they also have a “Find Inspiration” feature that lets you input your vacation desires and it outputs a selection of trip ideas.
From the home page, it seemed much of what they do and recommend is US-based travel, so I wasn’t …read more

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Here’s a jumbled round-up of recent airline/airfare news:
Ryanair. We wrote about them in our Airfare Alerts 2 post. They’ve always been a bit persnickety but have now announced they won’t be honoring any tickets booked through third-party websites. That means if you’ve booked a flight on Ryanair through BravoFly, V-tours, Opodo, Atrapalo or OTBeach, you’d better contact them, or Ryan Air directly, to find out the status of your ticket. And apparently, Ryanair won’t be an option anymore or these, or other multiple booking sites.
Best Fares has a cool consolidator sale running. Offered deals are pretty good, especially if …read more

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I know – it’s only August. But if you are thinking of a winter trip to Europe now is the time to get booking. Check last week’s post about airfare sales for some airline hints. Why should you consider Europe in the winter? Because less is more – lower prices, fewer people. Here are three good winter time destinations.
Athens: While most people dream of a Greek holiday on the beach – Athens is an excellent winter time choice as well. Temps will be in the 50’s Fahrenheit/around 10 Celsius and prices drop dramatically. Plus, there are a ton of …read more

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As a follow-up to the night train post, here’s another option for those looking to combine transport and hotel: ferries.
Obviously, this option is a bit more limited. I haven’t found a boat to whisk me from Prague to Barcelona. But if you are on the outskirts of the continent, this might be a handy, cost-effective and interesting way to move about. Let’s start south, near Italy and Greece. Many moons ago I took an overnight ferry between the two countries, and it was quite excruciating. Sixteen hours and I wanted to cry with boredom. Sleeping really didn’t occur. After …read more

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What are your travel hotel requirements? Hotel? Pension? Apartment? Hostel? Campsite? How about a pod?
CitizenM opened their first hotel at the end of June in Amsterdam. They are targeting the luxury budget market with their pod hotel room concept. In a 14 square meter room you’ll get an extra-large king-size bed, a wall-to-wall window, an LCD television with free movie channels and free WIFI Internet. They are touting their super bed and bath linens and their down-to-earth, friendly style. The hotels are specially built to their specs; in a style they call “Industrial Flexible Demountable.”
Prices however, aren’t the cheapest. …read more

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The Sunday Telegraph, a UK newspaper recently surveyed a bunch of popular tourist attractions around the world to see which city was the most expensive for travelers. I know this will come as a big surprise to some of you but LONDON turned out to be the biggest pound snatching town.
The paper looked at the cost of visiting 9 of each city’s most popular attractions plus the price of an open-top bus ride in London and 10 other cities around the world. In Europe, they also examined Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Cardiff and Berlin. The price for all …read more

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Yesterday, we took a look at some airfare deals from the US to Europe. Today we are taking on the European airlines – focusing on the budget flyers. There’s a huge fleet of them operating all over the continent with the majority of them based out of the UK. This is a no frills way to travel, cheap. Buy your food on board, pay for your checked luggage and no seat assignments. Soaring fuel costs, the credit crunch and a slumping economy in many European countries is fueling discussions into how long low-cost airlines will be able to continue to …read more

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